As of right now, it takes travel agents right out of the equation. When you book a trip with me, you get a free gift anyway

You can put your money into an interest bearing savings account and save that way.
You can purchase Disney Dollars or Disney gift cards (which are just about everywhere in the US) to save and you can apply the gift cards to your vacation.

You can book your vacation and make payments on it. I do this for people ALL OF THE TIME.

Plus, if you need to get that money asap for an emergency, you can get it pretty quickly out of your own savings account. If you want to get it back from Disney, I imagine it may take awhile.

i guess 2% is quite good these days.... if one was clever one could put it in just before booking then collect the gift card? haven't looked into the small print

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I think I read that the money has to be in the account for at least 120 days, and that you must request the gift card 4-6 weeks before your travel date to ensure delivery.

Edited to add:"You'll be eligible for a $20 Disney Gift Card for every $1000 you spend on qualified vacation purchases with your Disney Vacation Account prior to December 31, 2015 (date subject to extension), up to a total maximum of $500 in Disney Gift Card(s) per household. Your Disney Vacation Account must be active for a minimum of 120 days at the time of spending in order to receive this Bonus. All accounts registered to the same address are considered part of the same household."

Plus, if you need to get that money asap for an emergency, you can get it pretty quickly out of your own savings account. If you want to get it back from Disney, I imagine it may take awhile.

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Doesn't seem too bad...

"Full refunds may be made to the original form(s) of payment at any time. Please allow at least 5 days for us to process your refund. Your financial institution may need additional time to complete the transaction."

You can put your money into an interest bearing savings account and save that way.

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I'm with Johnie on this one. Save the money yourself in your own account at your bank. I'm sure most banks these days will be happy to setup an automatic deposit payment for you.

While this thing has a degree of Disney Magic seemingly associated with it (did you see the green, glowing mickey head icons), it seems to me that the only one who benefits on this one is Disney. If they're holding your money for some period of time, I'm sure they're getting much better than 2% interest on it. Multiply that float by however many people participate in this thing and they're probably more than paying for the administration of this program and making a healthy profit too.

While this thing has a degree of Disney Magic seemingly associated with it (did you see the green, glowing mickey head icons), it seems to me that the only one who benefits on this one is Disney. If they're holding your money for some period of time, I'm sure they're getting much better than 2% interest on it. Multiply that float by however many people participate in this thing and they're probably more than paying for the administration of this program and making a healthy profit too.

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I'm not disagreeing with you on the whole, I prefer to handle my own money as well, and typically my savings are not strictly for a Disney vacation (so this program wouldn't really benefit me that much), but don't banks ALSO benefit in much the same way as you're saying Disney will?

I think if I were going to do anything, it would be as Johnie suggested, paying the balance out over time through my TA (or Disney Travel Company) or purchasing Disney gift cards and applying them to my balance.

but don't banks ALSO benefit in much the same way as you're saying Disney will?

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Absolutely. No doubt about it. It was probably unfair of me to single Disney out for doing something that the banks also do. It's just that banks are financial institutions whose entire business model revolves around the movement of small, green pieces of paper. Disney is an entertainment company.

Absolutely. No doubt about it. It was probably unfair of me to single Disney out for doing something that the banks also do. It's just that banks are financial institutions whose entire business model revolves around the movement of small, green pieces of paper. Disney is an entertainment company.

Tom ( ... just not the same. Although it is attractive.)

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No, I agree...it's the banks business, and that does make a difference -

I think on some level though, in my mind (and a fantastical, illogical place it can be, I'll admit) I was thinking I'd rather see Disney benefit from my money and use it to "imaginear" something amazing and new, than just line the pockets of some stuffy CEO. Clearly, I KNOW life doesn't work this way, and I know Disney is EQUALLY full of stuffy people...but I can still see where it would have a certain appeal to some...

I'd rather see Disney benefit from my money and use it to "imaginear" something amazing and new

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Ya know, I can actually completely agree with that sentiment. After all, what have the banks done that's benefitted anyone other than themselves. Bank fraud, mortgage meltdown, turning a blind eye to Ponzi investment schemes, you name it. At least if Disney sits on the money, we might get something good out of it other than just another stockholder dividend or government fine payments.